Difference Between Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience

Salesforce has long been a powerful CRM platform, offering organizations tools to manage customer relationships effectively. Over the years, Salesforce has evolved, with its user interfaces playing a significant role in enhancing user experience and productivity. Salesforce Classic, the original interface, has been a reliable choice for many organizations. However, the introduction of Salesforce Lightning Experience has ushered in a new era of features, user experience, and customization. This blog delves into the key differences between Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience, helping businesses understand which option best suits their needs.

1. User Interface and Design

• Salesforce Classic: The Classic interface has a straightforward, text-based design that offers a familiar look and feel for long-time Salesforce users. Its simplicity is both an advantage and a limitation, as it lacks the modern aesthetics and intuitive navigation features found in contemporary interfaces.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning’s design is a significant upgrade, featuring a component-based architecture and a more visually engaging interface. It uses a grid layout, dynamic components, and an overall cleaner design, enhancing user interaction and making it easier to navigate between tasks. This modern design aligns with the expectations of today’s users, offering a seamless experience across devices.

2. Performance and Speed

• Salesforce Classic: Classic is known for its stability and reliability, with minimal lag and quick load times. However, it can struggle with performance when handling complex processes or large datasets.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: While Lightning introduced a new framework that initially led to slower performance for some users, Salesforce has made significant improvements over time. Lightning now offers faster load times, especially for complex processes, due to its optimized code and enhanced caching mechanisms.

3. Features and Functionality

• Salesforce Classic: Classic provides a robust set of features that have served businesses well for years. However, its capabilities are somewhat limited compared to Lightning, particularly in terms of automation, AI, and customization.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning offers advanced features, such as Lightning Components, App Builder, and Process Builder, that allow users to create custom applications and automate processes with ease. Additionally, it integrates with Einstein AI, providing predictive insights and analytics that are not available in Classic. Lightning’s mobile-friendly design and integration capabilities further enhance its functionality.

4. Customization and Flexibility

• Salesforce Classic: Customization in Classic is possible but limited, particularly when it comes to creating dynamic interfaces or custom applications. Admins and developers can build custom objects, fields, and workflows, but the scope is narrower compared to Lightning.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning’s component-based architecture allows for extensive customization. Users can drag and drop components to build custom pages and applications without extensive coding. The flexibility of Lightning extends to its ability to support more complex business processes and integrations, making it a superior choice for organizations with unique or evolving needs.

5. Reports and Dashboards

• Salesforce Classic: Classic provides basic reporting and dashboard capabilities. Users can create reports using standard and custom report types, but the design and visualization options are limited.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning offers enhanced reporting and dashboard features, including dynamic dashboards, more visualization options, and better real-time data updates. Users can create more interactive and visually appealing dashboards, which improve data-driven decision-making.

6. Salesforce Mobile Experience

• Salesforce Classic: Classic’s mobile capabilities are functional but limited. It requires the Salesforce1 mobile app for access, which provides basic CRM functionalities but lacks the full suite of features available on the desktop version.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning is designed with mobile in mind. The Lightning Experience is fully responsive and works seamlessly across devices, ensuring that users have access to the same features and capabilities whether they’re on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. This mobile-first approach makes it ideal for teams that need to work on the go.

7. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Integration

• Salesforce Classic: AI capabilities in Classic are minimal. While users can access some basic analytics, Classic does not support the advanced AI features that Salesforce offers today.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning leverages Salesforce Einstein, an AI-powered platform that offers predictive analytics, natural language processing, and smart recommendations. These AI features are embedded directly into the user interface, helping users to make more informed decisions and automate routine tasks.

8. AppExchange and Third-Party Integration

• Salesforce Classic: Classic supports AppExchange integrations, but the process is less streamlined compared to Lightning. Some modern apps are not fully compatible with Classic or offer limited functionality.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning has deeper and more seamless integration with AppExchange apps, particularly those designed with Lightning components. Users can easily install and configure apps, enhancing productivity and customization options. Lightning also supports the latest APIs and web standards, allowing for more robust integrations with third-party tools.

9. Community and Support

• Salesforce Classic: Classic has a large community and plenty of resources, but its growth and development have slowed since the launch of Lightning. Many new features and updates are not made available in Classic, as Salesforce focuses on Lightning.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning has rapidly growing community support, with a wealth of resources, tutorials, and documentation available. Salesforce frequently updates Lightning, adding new features, addressing bugs, and improving performance. Users transitioning to Lightning can expect ongoing support and a steady stream of enhancements.

10. Adoption and Learning Curve

• Salesforce Classic: Classic has a gentle learning curve for users familiar with the platform, especially those with basic CRM needs. However, it lacks modern features that could make workflows more efficient.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning offers a more feature-rich environment but with a steeper learning curve. Organizations transitioning from Classic to Lightning may face challenges in user adoption, especially if they are accustomed to the simpler Classic interface. Salesforce provides resources and training to ease this transition, but some initial disruption is to be expected.

11. Future-Proofing and Innovation

• Salesforce Classic: Salesforce Classic remains functional, but it is no longer the focus of Salesforce’s innovation. As Salesforce continues to prioritize Lightning, Classic users may find themselves missing out on the latest features, integrations, and improvements.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning is the future of Salesforce. Salesforce has committed to developing new features exclusively for Lightning, ensuring that users benefit from the latest technological advancements. From AI to automation to UI/UX improvements, Lightning is where Salesforce is investing its resources.

12. Transitioning from Classic to Lightning

• Salesforce Classic: Many organizations still use Classic because of the stability it provides. However, as Salesforce continues to enhance Lightning, staying on Classic may result in missed opportunities and inefficiencies.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Transitioning to Lightning requires careful planning. Organizations must assess their current setup, customize Lightning to fit their needs, and train users on the new interface. While the transition may involve some initial costs and effort, the long-term benefits, including increased productivity and access to advanced features, make it a worthwhile investment.

13. Pricing and Licensing

• Salesforce Classic: There is no separate pricing for Classic; it is included in Salesforce’s existing plans. However, the cost of not upgrading to Lightning could be measured in lost opportunities and productivity.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning also does not require additional licensing costs, but organizations may incur costs related to transition, training, and customization. Salesforce often provides incentives for customers to upgrade to Lightning, which can offset some of these expenses.

14. Security and Compliance

• Salesforce Classic: While Salesforce Classic is secure, it does not offer some of the advanced security features available in Lightning, such as improved encryption options and enhanced compliance tools.
• Salesforce Lightning Experience: Lightning includes more granular security controls, better compliance features, and the latest security updates, making it the preferred choice for industries with stringent regulatory requirements.

Conclusion: Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience

The decision between Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience boils down to the specific needs of your organization. Classic offers familiarity and simplicity, but it is limited in terms of modern features, customization, and future innovation. On the other hand, Lightning Experience represents the future of Salesforce, with its advanced features, modern design, and continual improvements.

The transition to Lightning is not just a recommendation it’s a necessity. However, this transition should be approached strategically, with careful planning and support to ensure that users can maximize the benefits of the new interface.